bayedsolid Chapter 10 Gossip from the Laundry Department and the Sharp-Tongued Granny Yi
Chapter 10 Gossip from the Laundry Department and the Sharp-Tongued Granny Yi
Granny Yi suspected that the young palace maid was also trying to extract information, but she still gave her some face. After all, in this palace, servants often exchanged information in this way, and replied:
“Indeed, the young mistress you serve still retains the demeanor of the original Si Zi. This is not surprising, after all, she has royal blood.”
Granny Qing exclaimed, "This Lord Li's life story sounds like he's been given a cheat code! Amazing! No wonder Princess Jinyang held him in such high regard back then!"
Xiao Chang continued, mimicking his young master's tone: "That's right. Back then, he was as famous as Duke Li Jing of Wei, known as the 'Twin Heroes of War.' He cooperated with the Wagang peasant army at the end of the Sui Dynasty, and they were incredibly successful. Later, he made even greater contributions to the Tang Dynasty in conquering the country and expanding its territory."
Granny Yi: Wow, that's really amazing! A real expert on the battlefield. What are his hobbies?
Ling, the stern-faced old woman, said: "Can't you speak properly? Wow! So what? You're some kind of expert? Did you learn that rhinoceros-unicorn language from Princess Jinyang back in the day?!"
Xiao Chang understood; her mistress often spoke these languages. She replied to Granny Yi, "You mean Lord Li Ji's hobbies?! I heard it's not just war! He also dabbles in medicine and even participated in compiling the world's earliest pharmacopoeia, the *Tang Materia Medica*. Oh, and he also wrote a book called *Pulse Classic*, but unfortunately, that book is lost."
Granny Qing exclaimed, "Oh dear, what a pity! It's probably been stolen by someone with ulterior motives. However, this talented young man, skilled in both literature and martial arts, truly lives up to his reputation. No wonder Princess Jinyang admired him so much back then..."
Xiao Chang couldn't help but laugh out loud as he recalled this story, a laugh tinged with helplessness and old worries:
Our little darling is quite a headache. I remember last year when Lord Li passed away, the young master, with his enormous head and a serious expression, ran to the young master's residence and caused a complete uproar…
That day, everyone in the palace was so busy that no one noticed that the mischievous little princess had secretly slipped out of the palace.
When she ran to the residence of the young master Li Ji, the servants couldn't stop her at all. Everyone in the mansion was helpless against this fearless noblewoman.
Ignoring the advice of the people in the mansion, she rushed into the study and ransacked the place, making a mess of the young master's collection.
Let me tell you, this little ancestor went to the Li residence in a huff, rummaged around, and found out that he was after two of Lord Li's old works!
Xiao Chang sighed, her hands unconsciously clenching her sleeves: "The Li family was keeping vigil, and their expressions were truly horrible. I heard that in the past, only Li and his sister doted on Xiao Jiu, but both of them have passed away, so no one pays any attention to this little girl anymore."
The palace maid Xiao Chang clearly remembered that the relatives of the Li family were so angry at the little girl that their forehead veins were throbbing. They watched as the young lady threw the scrolls here and there, but they couldn't do anything about it. After all, she was Emperor Li Zhi's most beloved daughter. Although there were some complaints about her birth mother's background, who dared to offend her easily? Everyone could only pretend to be calm and stand aside coldly without saying a word.
Ling, the old woman with a mean face, asked: Have you found it yet?
The palace maid shook her head and pursed her lips.
Granny Ling, who was standing nearby, asked Xiao Chang again:
Hey, you're all serving this young master now. He still looks as tender as when he was little Si'er. The Emperor even raised him like a girl. But what is the background of his birth mother?
At this moment, Granny Qing sighed slightly, looked at the palace wall in the distance, and a complicated look flashed in her eyes: I only remember that Princess Jinyang, Xiao Sizi, was twelve years old but looked like she was five or six years old.
Ling, the shrewish old woman, continued to chime in: "Perhaps something strange has happened! It might be difficult to hide, so they announced the death of Princess Jinyang."
As everyone was talking quietly, they suddenly heard footsteps approaching from outside.
Immediately afterward, the head eunuch, Chief Eunuch Di, entered, carrying a whisk in his hand, his expression serious and unsmiling. Upon his arrival, the laundry maids and servants who had been whispering amongst themselves immediately fell silent, their previously lively gossip vanishing without a trace.
The old women were chatting about which young mistress was the most favored in the palace, and the maids would occasionally add their own embellishments. But as soon as the eunuch gave them a cold glance, everyone immediately fell silent, hurriedly lowered their heads, and pretended to be working diligently.
"Everyone, be quick and efficient, don't delay things."
At this moment, all that could be heard was the gentle patting of clothes in the basin, making a rhythmic sound, and the air was filled with the fresh scent of laundry soap. The previous commotion seemed to have never existed.
The maidservant lowered her head, picked up the clothes that her mistress had washed and dried last time, and prepared to go back without daring to raise her eyes even slightly.
She knew that the head eunuch was usually imposing, but he always showed her some leniency, after all, she was the one serving Xiao Jiu.
Sure enough, the eunuch walked up to her, his tone gentler than when he spoke to others, a faint smile on his lips, and asked in a feignedly friendly manner, "Young Miss, what were you all talking about just now? You seemed to be having a good time!"
The palace maid, Xiao Chang, was terrified but pretended to be casual as she said, "Well, didn't Japan send Kawachi Kujira and others to the Tang Dynasty last year? That should have been the seventh envoy to Tang, right?"
The eunuch said with a half-smile: "Oh my, you're even concerned about national affairs now! The Japanese envoy to Tang has come to congratulate our dynasty on defeating Goguryeo. As a result, Japan has no choice but to acknowledge the status of our Great Tang on the Liaodong Peninsula, and they will have to adjust their own foreign policy."
Chief Steward Di glanced sideways at the palace maid Xiao Chang, then looked away.
Xiao Chang breathed a slight sigh of relief and said, "Yes, Father-in-law, we were being foolish. We were just talking about the gifts the Japanese envoy brought in November; they were quite varied." We just started discussing them out of curiosity.
The eunuch lowered his eyelids slightly and said, "The Japanese are also trying to curry favor with us, so their gifts are naturally quite generous. But don't gossip about it anymore; this isn't our concern."
Xiao Chang, Granny Yi, Granny Ling, and the other maids and servants nodded in agreement. Xiao Chang secretly slapped herself a few times, hurriedly bowed to the eunuch, and quickly left the laundry department.